The redevelopment of Avenida Rainha D. Amélia, in Lumiar, will bring sidewalks accessible to all, refuge islands in the middle of the road to make crosswalks more comfortable, and raised crosswalks that also encourage speed reduction - among other calming, accessibility and safety measures.
Improving pedestrian accessibility is the main objective of the intervention that the Lisbon City Council plans to carry out in the Avenida Rainha D. Améliain Lumiar. The requalification project was developed within the framework of the There's More Life in My Neighborhood, a municipal program designed to promote a city of proximity, a "city of 15 minutes".
A Avenida Rainha D. Amélia has about 600 meters and connects Alameda das Linhas de Torres to Avenida Padre Cruz, also linking the Telheiras neighborhood and Alto do Faia. It is a level three avenue in the PDM (Municipal Master Plan), which means that it is a structuring neighborhood road that should have some traffic flow capacity. The axis has two lanes per direction, oblique parking on one side and sidewalks with good widths, especially on the side where there is oblique parking.
In general, these characteristics of Avenida Rainha D. Amélia will be maintained - such as the oblique parking lot, which could be converted into a bicycle lane in the future - but, for most of the length of the avenue, it will now have two lanes towards Padre Cruz (uphill) and one towards Linhas de Torres (downhill). The third lane will become a left-turn lane to reduce conflicts between the different traffic flows, i.e. between local flows and through flows.
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This redevelopment of Avenida Rainha D. Amélia is, however, focused on mobility and pedestrian accessibility. Thus, on both sides of the avenue there will be a comfortable sidewalk, i.e. with a smooth surface instead of a sidewalk. This comfortable sidewalk will accompany pedestrians to the pedestrian crossings, which will be raised or lowered and will have tactile guides. The idea is to guarantee universal pedestrian mobility and the so-called "zero bounce", which consists of eliminating bumps in the transitions between sidewalks and crosswalks.
With this intervention on the avenue, small refuge islands will be introduced in the center of the road so that people can cross in two phasesThis will allow them to look only one way at each crossing, reducing their exposure to motorized traffic and increasing safety. Currently, pedestrians have to cross 12 meters in one go. Placing the refuges in the middle of the road will allow pedestrians to cross 3.5 meters and then 6 meters at the same green light moment. On the other hand, the new islands will have shrub vegetation, allowing not only for the absorption of noise and micro-particles, but also for greater permeability in the area.
Avenida Rainha D. Amélia will now have two raised crosswalks to reduce vehicle speedsOne of these crossings will result from the elimination of two of the crossings considered. One of these crosswalks will result from the elimination of two crossings considered; the remaining three crossings will be adapted. The redevelopment will only cover the "middle" of the avenue, with the intersections with Avenida Padre Cruz and Alameda das Linhas de Torres to be dealt with at another time; the Linhas de Torres side is particularly complicated to resolve, due to the cycle channel that has been put in.
The redevelopment project for Avenida Rainha D. Amélia was presented last April and is expected to be completed in the near future. implementation of some preliminary measures in the fourth quarterthe start of the work - which is estimated to cost between 850,000 and one million euros - is only expected to begin at the beginning of 2024. The intervention is the responsibility of the Municipal Urban Planning Department (dmu@cm-lisboa.pt) and has the support of the Lumiar Parish Council (info@jf-lumiar.pt).
